Puy-de-Dôme

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Château de Parentignat

The Château de Parentignat is sometimes nicknamed the little Versailles of Auvergne, in the Puy-de-Dôme department in central France. Built starting in 1707, it has belonged to the Lastic family since it was first constructed. It holds one of the most significant collections of old master paintings…

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Château de Ravel

A royal fortress given by Philip the Fair to his chancellor Pierre Flote, then home to Admiral d'Estaing, Ravel overlooks the Limagne plain, facing the Chaîne des Puys volcanoes in Auvergne. Under centuries of partitions, stables and hay, the château hid a 13th-century hall with its painted…

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Château de Tournoël

A square tower from the 1100s, a great round tower built to show off royal power, a late medieval staircase in Volvic stone: set on a narrow spur facing the Chaîne des Puys volcanoes, Tournoël still bears the scars of its sieges. The Chabrol family, owners from 1760, kept it as a carefully tended…